Round one of the Open is complete and several of the big names are off to strong starts, none more so than Scottie Scheffler. He features in our day two best bets.
Golf betting tips: Open three-balls
2pts Fowler and Oosthuizen to win their three-balls at 7/2 (Coral, Ladbrokes)
1pt Herbert, Cantlay and Scheffler to win their three-balls at 7/1 (General)
0.5pt five-fold the above selections at 33/1 (General)
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There aren't many of the Friday morning three-balls that have been put up in time but one that has sees RICKIE FOWLER appear a very fair price to repeat his first-round defeat of Adam Scott, with amateur Ethan Fang completing the group.
Fang predictably struggled on his Open debut and I doubt that'll change much, which leaves us getting 6/4 in a head-to-head between two players who were separated by three shots. No, it isn't always that simple, but Thursday's round took their head-to-head this year to 14 each and Fowler has been playing sneakily well of late.
Given that he so enjoyed Portrush on his first look in 2019, and that he gained around a stroke in every department in an excellent opening round, he looks worth sticking with. Scott was scrappy, relying on his putter to get out of there relatively unscathed, and there's a case we should be looking at 11/10 each-of-two. Fowler has to be the call.
I did consider sticking with Harry Hall, who rallied well from four-over through three to shoot two-over. However, Aaron Rai absolutely striped it and looked on very good terms with himself, which was also the case with Angel Hidalgo against Matt McCarty, the Spaniard winning by a single shot having produced a much improved ball-striking display.
Tyrrell Hatton looked very assured but fellow outright pick Russell Henley is the kind of golfer I'm never in a hurry to oppose and with prices slow to emerge for some of the other morning matches, we'll press on to LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN.
Oosthuizen was a strong fancy on day one and ought to have won but three-putted the 18th green. Guido Migliozzi had been a long way behind, too, until birdies at 15 and 17, so those who backed the favourite can feel very hard done by.
The good news is he's the same price if not a shade bigger, more firms having chalked up this three-ball, and unlike the Italian he at least did one thing very well having looked good off the tee all day. KJ Choi shouldn't be a factor having made zero birdies in an 81 which beat only one young amateur.
LUCAS HERBERT beat Darren Clarke and Davis Riley more convincingly than the eventual margins suggest and can double up at even-money.
The Aussie finished bogey-bogey as Clarke chipped in at the 17th and with Riley among the very worst ball-strikers in the field, Herbert should win again. Clarke struggled in round two after a bright start in 2019 and the same is expected here.
Talk of a niggling injury for Brooks Koepka makes Sam Burns tempting enough against him and powerhouse Aldrich Potgieter, but I thought SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER's performance was pretty ominous and 10/11 to see off Shane Lowry and Collin Morikawa is preferred.
Morikawa was again poor as he was last week and Lowry, so at home here, is the problem if you are backing the world number one. Nevertheless, the way he ended, with fabulous approaches to the final three holes, really does set him up for a massive week and he can dominate this.
From the lesser matches, John Axelsen could be a favourite to oppose after a dazzling day on and around the greens and Dylan Naidoo would get my vote to overturn that one, while Jesper Sandborg is limited and takes up too much of the market, only I can't split Oliver Lindell and Justin Suh at the prices.
Lindell's form is stronger but Suh is probably a better golfer and if either is overpriced, it's him.
Finally, I'm a bit surprised to see PATRICK CANTLAY at 5/4 given his class and the respective struggles of Cameron Young and Mackenzie Hughes, particularly the latter who was all over the place, so he can round off a nice afternoon treble.
Bar one wild shot at the 16th Cantlay was solid enough whereas Hughes really was atrocious in ball-striking terms, not for the first time either. And while Young's Open record is strong, this looks less suitable than previous venues. It was actually his short-game which helped him to avoid something worse than a 75.
Cantlay is just a grade above the other two and 5/4 on this coupon just looks a bit on the large side.
Posted at 2200 BST on 17/07/25
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